Photo Blog from Southern Ecuador
10/31/09

My last of a long list of fun n friendly Ecuadorian riders Sergio :) See the pics!

Happy Halloween! In Guayaquil now with a LOVELY family and off to the beach soon since the folks here are celebrating a 4-day weekend! Nice! Some truly stunning pics with captions take ya with us on the adventure from the border of Peru to Guayaquil. Enjoy!

Blog from Machala, Ecuador

A smiling escort from our host and Ecuadorian brother Juan Angel

I'm in Ecuador after an amazing 3 days ride of Northern Peru and tons of great adventures in that lovely country. We are staying w/ a very cool Couchsurfing host named Juan Angel who is an Angel, and this mother Cecilia in Machala. We have been eating, playing, riding and mostly working on preparation to ride north and secure the footage and stuff from Peru n all. We were going to leave today but our host had to leave suddenly and said he could ride with us tomorrow if we stayed another day sooooo, it was meant to be. I am going to post a journal entry soon so check out www.peacepedalers.com/journals.html for a full update.

Check some pics of North Peru here:

Head here to see a full slide show

As you’ll see in the pics much of the trip was off the bike and with great people and on the beach in the famous waves of Peru. My passion for surf and skiing made Chile and Peru far different than any typical bike trip and I look back on my months of indulgence in great food, wine, skiing, surfing, sun, relaxing, more food and wine….no wonder I have my first significant belly and chubby face in over 7 years! But one great thing about my lifestyle is that all I have to do is live my life on the bike and it melts off like butta…so goodbye gut and hello sun n strength!

I now have some time to connect, write, plan, chill and recoup for the adventures ahead. It's a 4-day holiday weekend Halloween here in Ecuador so it should be super duper fun. Friday we have a host in Guayquil named Alejandra who seems super cool, spiritual and a real traveler. Also, we have a pseudo host named Pachi who gave us a lift part of the way from the border in his truck who is a huge surfer and eager to show us around too. This weekend we are hoping to get to the beaches to do some surfing and freak out a bit w/ Halloween then ride the "Ruta del Sol"--a smaller coastal road that is meant to be super duper fun and full of cool characters we can play with.

But all the future plans after Halloween will depend on what happens with LAN Airlines and our proposal to them. We sent a proposal to them to make them our “official airline” of our Latin American Tour and all sorts of benefits in return for 2 first class tickets from Guayaquil to Easter Island :0). I am a stubborn guy when I want to get my way and we sent a proposal to them and others in Chile but no go so we left Chile without really getting enough footage for my show or seeing one of Chile’s very coolest places to visit (and surf and mountain bike ;)). The proposal is in the final stages and we’ll know in a few days!!! Cross our fingers!!

Big smiles in Puerto Pizarro, Peru :)

So just ate some granola and fresh milk and I’ve got shirt and shoes off—the way I love to chill out when the weather is right—and it should be nice and cozy all the way to Mexico! Yesterday had the most massive seafood feast ever and I’m loving all the fresh fish by the coast. I’ve got a full day of work planned but still hope to take my host Cecilia out on the bike for a ride and interview before the sun goes down. The bikes just got tuned up and tomorrow we’re on the road again into the long roads of banana plantations. If you like bananas this is the place to be! You can buy a pound of bananas for about 5 cents and it’s my chosen fuel source on the bike so I’m stoked for that.

On the personal side of life I think I have finally crossed the tall wall of the 9-month travel burnout point. I have hit it before and usually head home for a visit to recharge by now but not an option since I lost my flying benefits w/ Mom’s airlines till March next year. I’m still really missing home and would love to be with my friends and family far more than pedaling a bike with strangers but I’ve mustered up a few appreciation for the lifestyle of travel and adventure I choose and things are good. I had the chance to have long chats with Skype with my family and friends in Peru and we are all excited about the fact that I’ll soon be home for good—able to finally plant some roots and connect at a much deeper level with the ones I really care about most. In all my travels the one common thread of all humanity I’ve witnessed is the contentment people have being connected to their family and the importance of family in everyone’s life. I’m grateful that I have been able to come home every year for 3-6 months and not feel so disconnected like many long term adventurers, but still I am excited switch the balance of time and make the majority of my life now with my community and as many weeks or months as I can out adventuring with my family. But this is all still months away…for now, off to do some ridin’. If all goes as planned I’ll have a nice visit w/ family over Christmas but ya never know :)

Peace,

Jamie

Blog from Lima, Peru

Greetings from lovely Lima, Peru. I am in awe how fast time flies by lately. On one hand I don’t want to “rush” through countries while, to be honest, I’m trying to keep some momentum to land in the arms of my family and friends by next year. It’s been a long journey and country 73 here in Peru has been a mix of it all—fortunately mostly positive stuff to report, minus clawing over the wall of travel burnout which I have nearly reached the top…

We finally got out of Iquique, Chile where our lovely connection with Roberto, Amor & Cristian was hard to leave. If you have not had a chance to meet this crew, and the other Couchsurfers I was blessed to bond with, here’s an album below of my 2 week basecamp in N. Chile.




But after a few hard days of dusty, bumpy, boring travel we made it to Cuzco, Peru to start our adventures on our Inca Expedition. Cristina and I had been at each other’s throat a bit, mostly due to being cooped up for so long, and getting moving helped the situation quite a bit.

Pictures tell a thousand words they say so take a trip through the Inca Expedition here and I’ll write more in the journal. For now, just know we had an epic time riding with four soulful characters exploring nature, history, culture, food, music and all the yummy stuff I adore in traveling. Enjoy the ride!

After the Cuzco adventures to Machu Picchu we ended up staying 3 days right on the beach at the famous surf spot Punta Hermosa with the parents of Burlingame High School classmate Ramon Mifflin. Ramon’s parents Ramon and Ingrid were super sweet and took us in like family while I took my beatings from the strongest waves I’ve surfed in years. From the beach we hit up Lima to visit more friends of friends a few days and did some media work with Cable Magico’s hit show Entre Titulares before finally getting back into pedaling road in Northern Peru. Southern Peru is grey, cold and depressing this time of year so we are hoping for warmer, sunnier weather as we ride the northern region (not to mention, more great surf up there…I’m not going to lie…for me, Peru is as much about surf as riding, if not more)

Okay, that’s the latest. Hope to get a journal out next week for more detail. We’re also still waiting to hear from LAN Airlines to see if they are sending us from Ecuador to Easter Island for the biggest and most stylin’ u-turn in Peace Pedalers history :) Say some prayers for us as we sorted skunked out on the epic riding in Chile and are eager to pedal down there in Paradise :)

Big hugs!

Jamie & Part Time Peace Pedaler Cristina